Cinnamon
"Cinnamon" is the twentieth chapter of One Rainy Day in May. It is the third chapter to be narrated by Astair Ibrahim. Chapter Quote "From these shallows expands the mercy of the sea." - Louise Glick Summary The chapter opens up on May 10, 2014 at 14:55:33 in Los Angeles, California. Astair is at her house, still debating whether or not she should open the letter containing her grade on the thesis she wrote for college. She wants to wait for the nighttime to do it, but her excitement over Anwar and Xanther bringing home the Akita makes her want to celebrate early. She is also thrilled over the deal Anwar had made at his job, as the Ibrahims are in need of the money he will be making. The dog bed Astair bought earlier is wet due to Shasti and Freya carrying it through the rain out of the pet store and into their car, so she has them help her dry it off. Afterwards, Astair thinks about the talk she and Taymor had while they were still at the pet store. She begins to realize that her sex life with Anwar hasn't been as good as she would like, and she wants to address this with him. She begins to feel hot flashes but she tries to ignore it by playing music. Although Astair doesn't want to openly admit it, she knows she wants the dog more than anybody else does. She recalls bringing up the topic with Xanther on multiple occasions before but she wasn't interested. Astair has also talked to Anwar about it, and after telling him that it would be a gift for Xanther, he agreed. She does want the dog to help Xanther become more confident, go outside more often, and even help reduce the risk of her having another seizure. Astair envisions herself being able to walk the dog around, though. She also believes that owning a dog would make it easier to attract suitors. Even if Xanther is still not fully on board with owning the dog, Astair believes she will change her mind once she actually sees it. Rain is still leaking through certain spots in the ceiling. Astair sends Shasti and Freya to empty all of the containers from earlier and place them back under the dripping spots again. Her thoughts return to the unopened manila folder. She decides to open it now rather than wait until later. When Astair enters her room and looks at her bed, she sees that the folder is gone. Her first assumption is that her daughters moved it. She becomes furious and shouts for them, but then she remembers that she had moved it into the bathroom closet. When she searches through the closet, she finds the envelope. She is relieved to find it dry, despite the surrounding area being wet due to a leaking spot. Astair feels another hot flash after finding the envelope. When Astair is unable to hear her daughters from downstairs, she takes the envelope down there with her to investigate. She leaves it on the coffee table. She finds her daughters playing in the rain in the backyard. The chapter ends on May 10, 2014 at 15:05:39. Page by page annotations Category:Chapters